Crossroads Two
by Bettina
Summary: Dragonlance/Animorphs. Sequal to Crossroads, obviously. *incomplete*
1. Author's Notes

Author's notes:  
  
This story is incomplete. That's my big warning. I stopped this a long time ago, you'll see when if you've read the previous one, which I'm telling you to now. The plot bunny smacked me a few times, the hopped away forever. I doubt this one will ever be finished. Ariel gets more and more out of character as time goes by, I think, and it's just.eh. I love this story, but I wish someone ELSE wrote it so I wouldn't feel so horrible about never finishing it. BUT, there is more of this style of writing coming up! As I said in y previous author's notes, I have two others of this "series" in progress/on hiatus about Ariel's older and younger sister. The older one was never mentioned in Crossroads One, and I still don't rightly know why. But she exists! AND you learn their last name, 'cause the lack of last name's due mainly to Ariel's paranoia and the fact that I hadn't come up with one yet. :D Those are Star Wars Pre-prequel crossovers and Star Trek: erm.not sure yet, hasn't gotten that far. ;) I was leaning towards Voyager, but it ended.like Animorphs ended.and I still don't LIKE that ending..But anyway. That's enough. And if anyone has ANY suggestions, feel free! Criticism is welcome, as well! And of course blind adoration. ;)  
  
Also, chapter four isn't as funny as I once believed it to be. Not to me, anyway. Please tell me if you think it's funny! Lol. 


	2. The Arrival

Chapter 1, The Arrival  
  
I was home! I just couldn't believe it. It had been twenty-five years and I'd given up hope. And I'd given up caring about my other world.  
  
Then another thought struck me. And hard. My family! They'll think I'm dead. And I didn't tell the Animorphs what to do about my beautiful motorcycle left in Cassie's driveway...  
  
Oh, by the way. My name is Ariel. Yeah, yeah. I know your saying to yourself, "No last name, no address, no phone number," right? Well, I guess I could tell you my last name here, but I still have a family on that other world. They could still be taken by the Yeerks and made into Controllers: mindless, soulless slaves of the Yeerks.  
  
I don't want that to happen.  
  
So I'll keep a low cover and hope.  
  
Anyway, I was home! I was home, I was home, I was home!  
  
Then I looked around and cursed. I had no clue where I was, and I didn't have a map. I sighed then spied a little farmhouse in the distance.  
  
I jogged the distance there in long, easy strides, glad to be running the uneven ground of home.  
  
"Hail, house!" I called when I got near enough. "Do you speak Common?" I asked as an old man stuck his graying head out the door.  
  
The man shook his head and I tried again.  
  
"Elven?" I asked in that language. "Solamnic? Dwarven? Orc?" I asked the last with a grin. No one spoke Orc except the orcs. And a few who dared bargain with the foul, double-crossing creatures.  
  
The man looked at me cautiously. "Yeah, I speak Solamnic. What's it to ya?"  
  
"Not much. I just want to know where I am, that's all. What's that bit of information worth to you?" I asked in a slight bargaining tone.  
  
"Three steel!" The man called out.  
  
I cringed. I didn't have any steel. I'll have to try getting the information without using money.  
  
"How's a finely woven cloak?" I took off the cloak and displayed it to him. I was closer to the house, so he could see that there were just a few sword-made holes in it.  
  
"Hmmm...It's worn. Maybe this and a steel piece," he said. I could tell that he was interested in the cloak. While I was on your world I'd had a few rubies sewn in a little pattern on the front where it clasped around the throat.  
  
"Well, the cloak's my final offer. If you don't take it and tell me where I am, I'll just keep on following the trail behind this shack until I find a village where I can get a map and a complete description of the surrounding area for free from the first kender I meet," I growled at him.  
  
I think he was just starting to realize he wasn't talking to some weak elven maid, but to a hardened fighter. But still he chuckled and said, "Aye, you'd get your information. Information that's probably so outdated not even your elven forebears would know what he's talking about. And he'd rob you blind."  
  
"I don't have much to rob," I told him.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I see that," he said, staring intently at the rubies on the cloak.  
  
"They're real rubies, not glass," I muttered.  
  
"I see that too," he told me, not looking up.  
  
I sighed and waited for him to make up his mind. Finally he said, "I'll take the rubies, you keep the cloak. I don't need it. But you will in a few weeks when winter really hits. How's that for a deal?"  
  
I grinned. "Perfect! Here, I'll take `em off for you," I said, taking out my dagger. I cut the threads holding the rubies onto the cloak and handed the gems to him. He grabbed them and told me that I was on the outskirts of a small farming village just outside of Palanthas. If I went southeast for a day or two, I'd reach another town exactly like it.  
  
I thanked him and left. I went in the direction the old man had said Palanthas was, going through some sparse woods.  
  
I was nearly halfway through the little forest when I literally bumped into a full-grown grizzly bear. Somehow I hadn't seen it.  
  
Hey! the grizzly said to me. 


	3. The Reunions

"Rachel?" I asked in amazement.  
  
She squinted at me with her blurry bear eyes. Ariel! She exclaimed.  
  
"What are you doing here?" I asked.  
  
I'm not sure, she replied.  
  
"Same here," I told her. "Are the others with you?"  
  
Yeah. I don't know where, she said.  
  
"Well, you might as well demorph. And don't worry. No Yeerks here, and if anyone happens to see you they'll just think your a mage," I told her when she looked uneasy about demorphing here.  
  
Where are we, anyway? she asked as she started to demorph.  
  
I smiled. "I'm home!" I said to her. "Krynn!" I did a little dance right there just for the sheer joy of dancing in the moons' light in a pine forest of home.  
  
"Hey, Ariel, calm down. Sheesh," Rachel told me.  
  
I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," I said. "I had just given up hope of ever coming home again."  
  
"Hey, it's cool. But we're still gonna need someone here to help us get back, right?"  
  
"Yeah. I was just going to Palanthas. There are a lot of mages there because of the Tower of High Sorcery. There's bound to be at least one that can send you back. But first we've got to find the others."  
  
Here's a few others, I heard from behind me. I saw Rachel grinning at something behind and above me.  
  
I turned around and grinned too. Right there in front of me was a rhino next to a gorilla with a red-tailed hawk on it's horn.  
  
"So where're Cassie and Ax?" Rachel asked.  
  
Marco shrugged his big, shaggy gorilla shoulders. Don't know. One minute we were all fighting then BAM! We're here, wherever here is.   
  
I smiled. "Your on Krynn, my home," I told them all, smiling brightly.  
  
Okay, now we know who's gonna help us out here. Uh...You do know where we are, right? Jake asked.  
  
"Yes. We keep going this way for about a mile and we're in Palanthas, and there we can get a map of this part of the continent. After we earn some money," I said, a slight dash going into my mood. "Here they won't accept the money your country uses. They don't even use gold. Hmmm..."  
  
"What can we do to get money?" Marco asked. They had started demorphing as I was telling them our tad dilemma.  
  
"Well, Rachel, Cassie, and I could probably get jobs at the first tavern or inn we find, but what you guys are going to do is a mystery."  
  
Why would I get a job at a tavern? Cassie asked, trotting out in wolf form with Ax on her heels.  
  
"Other than the fact that we have no money for anything, no reason," I said with a shrug. "But if you don't want men making lewd remarks about you and pitching your rear, you could tend farm animals for a while, maybe."  
  
Rachel made a face at mention of men pinching rears, so I told her, "Hey, if you're a barmaid, you're working around drunk men. They get rude and obnoxious after a few mugs of beer. You would to, if you had the stomach for it," I told them all with a grin.  
  
"What do you mean, if we have the stomach for it? Is that a challenge?" Rachel asked me.  
  
"In a sense," I said.  
  
"I'm sure I could drink twice as much as you!" she told me.  
  
"Really? Would you care to put that challenge to the test?" I asked her.  
  
"Definitely," she said coolly.  
  
"Well, then. With the first steel we earn, after we get a map of the area and some tailored clothes for you, we'll have a drinking contest. First to pass out looses. So...Wine, ale, or dwarf spirits?" I asked her.  
  
"What're dwarf spirits?"  
  
"The most powerful beer known to exist."  
  
"Dwarf spirits, then."  
  
"Uh...a drinking contest?" Marco asked. "Can I be a contestant?"  
  
"Marco, you'd pass out with a little sip of cider," I remarked. He just stuck his tongue out at me.  
  
I'm afraid I do not understand what just happened, Ax said. What is a drinking contest?   
  
"It's to see who can handle more intoxication," I told him.  
  
Ah. But why would you want to intoxicate yourself? he asked.  
  
"Some people do it because it helps them forget their problems, but some just like the taste of beer."  
  
We started walking towards the city. As we walked I told them a few things about the world they found themselves in and of the customs of the city we were headed towards.  
  
"They speak Common hear, but also some Solamnic. Did any of you take Latin in high school?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah, I did. So did Marco," Cassie said.  
  
"All right, good. I really don't feel like translating every little thing anyone says in this area. Mind being translators as I do the talking?"  
  
"Yeah, okay."  
  
"Good. Oh, and you guys need some clothes. You can't walk around in Spandex in a city."  
  
"Why not? I'm sure we could fit in perfectly!" Marco said with a laugh.  
  
"That's it!" I said suddenly.  
  
"What's it?" Jake asked.  
  
"We could do a little act in the marketplace. I could be an animal charmer! We'll get steel by the pound!  
  
"And you!" I said, pointing at Ax. "I could have bought you from some mad wizard or something."  
  
I will try and not take offense of that, Ax said calmly.  
  
"Oh, sorry. But you defiantly don't look like anything from this world. Hey, you should be proud. Only magic could have created you, or so the people here will think. And, if it makes you happy, I could say you ran away from your creator when you were much younger and you've joined me ever since. Good?"  
  
I suppose.   
  
And what exactly are we supposed to do? Tobais asked.  
  
"Morph various animals and be 'charmed'. In other words, you can't attack anyone, and you gotta do what I command. For a while," I added hastily, seeing the look Rachel gave me.  
  
"I'm just going to have you do various tricks, and when we've got enough money we leave. Okay?"  
  
I let them think about that for a while. I hoped they agreed. It would be fun being an animal charmer.  
  
As we reached the edge of the forest on the top of a hill, I let them look at the view of the city for a while. The sun was just rising, and the city looked splendid. Then I ask, "So, what are we doing?"  
  
"I guess we go along with your idea. It could get us some money, and I guess it would be rather fun. What do you all say?" Jake asked.  
  
Thankfully, they all agreed.  
  
"All right! I suggest you all morph here, and morph something dangerous. Like tigers, elephants, Hork-Bajir, wolves," I said, grinning.  
  
Hork-Bajir? Tobias asked.  
  
"Yeah. Frighten the hell out of little kids. Then they'll beg their mammas to bring them over to see the big scary demon."  
  
Oh.   
  
"Oh, wait a second. I'll be right back," I said, running back into the woods. I searched around a minute. I came back to them holding a freshly-killed squirrel and a bowl-shaped piece of bark.  
  
"A dead squirrel?" Marco asked. "What's that for?"  
  
"You'll see," I said, and started skinning the little rodent. When was done I asked, "Anyone want some squirrel meat? It's fresh," I added with a grin.  
  
They all declined, even Tobias. I shrugged and laid it to the side for later. I scraped as much of the gore stuck to the skin off as possible. Then I cut a slit in the center of it and laid it in the bowl-bark for a minute. I reached around and caught the back of my cloak and cut off a strip of it. Then I wrapped the squirrel-skin over the top of the bowl and tied it on tightly with the dark blue strip of cloak.  
  
"There," I said when I was done, ten minutes later. "As kender-proof as possible. So here we go!"  
  
It was a rather horrid thing to see. Misshapen bodies were everywhere. Rachel was growing and her nose becoming the length of my weapons' belt. Tobias's feet were ten times their normal size, though keeping there general shape, as huge blades were growing out of practically every joint. Jake had three-inch canines sticking out of his still-human mouth as his ears rode up his head. Cassie seemed the only one with any control over her morph, seeing as she had this beautiful coat of silver while everything but her snout was human.  
  
Thankfully Ax stayed his own, slightly disturbing self. He didn't morph human, and thank the gods for that. His human morph looked exactly like John's, and I didn't think I could have stood seeing him with the thought still fresh in my mind: I may never again see my dear, dear John again.  
  
"All right, well aren't we a nice little zoo? C'mon. We gotta get moving if we want to reach the city and do even a small act before the time limit's up." I said, leading the way.  
  
When we reached the outskirts of the city, I had the Animorphs surround me in a seemingly protective circle. I had Tobias and Ax up front to be a bit more intimidating, I had Rachel to my right and Marco to my left. Jake and Cassie were behind me.  
  
Lots of people pointed and stared, but thankfully I didn't hear anyone scream.  
  
A pair of Kagonesti elves, my people, approached us. One was a man, the other a woman. They had tattoos all over their arms and faces. I couldn't hide a smile as I recognized the man.  
  
"Konothas!" I called to him. His head swiveled in my direction and squinted at me.  
  
"Ariel?" he asked tentatively.  
  
I nodded my head vigorously.  
  
"Ariel! I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed, giving me a hug. "Where have you been these last twenty years?"  
  
"It's a long story. Let's just say magic had a thing or two to do with it," I told him.  
  
"Ah," he said, like that explained everything. Elves in general appreciated magic, but this one didn't particularly trust it.  
  
"So, who's this?" I asked, looking at the woman.  
  
"This is my wife, Ellenoria. And who are your new friends?" he asked, looking just slightly frightened by my two "demons", but perfectly at home with the dangerous mammals standing right next to me.  
  
I smiled nervously and tried to come up with a fairly good tale. I memory of our childhood saved me. It was when we were helping my father harvest our little garden, and we had found a small, but very poisonous snake.  
  
Now, as a rule, elves didn't like to kill any animal. In this regard we were just like any pair of elven children. So Konas had tried to charm the frightened little snake, and wonder of wonders, it had worked! We had carried the snake out to the woods and let it go.  
  
"Ah, in the past few years I've been trying to learn how to charm animals," I told him, smiling. "And, well, here are my successful test subjects. Except the, uh, demons. They're just friends of mine. And they're not dangerous, unless provoked," I added hastily, seeing how nervous he was getting around these "unnatural" beings.  
  
He smiled. "Well, congratulations on your success, though I must say I'm surprised. You had never taken any real interest in animals before, as far as I could tell."  
  
I smiled back. "I still haven't, really. It's just I knew it would be useful while on the road."  
  
He nodded, like I'd said the most profound thing he'd ever heard. I realized then that he had no interest speaking to me, but had put up the show of affection for what he probably deemed my "weaker" side.  
  
"Well, I must be going. I have an appointment with some very important people," I said.  
  
"Then see you soon, my friend," he said.  
  
"I will see you too, Kothos." He turned and started to walk away. I saw his wife ask a question, but couldn't hear it. But I could hear his derisive laugh and guessed she had asked who I was.  
  
I sighed, shook my head, and muttered, "Damn bigots," under my breath.  
  
We kept on walking to the center of the market place, looking for a place to start. Suddenly we were accosted by about five small childish people.  
  
"Kender," I groaned.  
  
"Wow!" one exclaimed, a female. "Is that a real dragon?"  
  
"Ooh! Demons! I met a demon once..." a male said.  
  
"Shoo, or I'll have my demons rip you to shreds!" I yelled at them.  
  
"Really? Does it hurt much?" another male asked.  
  
"Very," I stated.  
  
"Have you ever tried it?" a female asked.  
  
"Well, no, but..."  
  
"Then how would you know if it hurt?" asked another male.  
  
"Uh...well...because I once had a friend tell me."  
  
"Really? Who was your friend?"  
  
"This, uh, demon right here!" I said, waving at Ax.  
  
What did you just say? Ax asked.  
  
"That you told me what it feels like to get ripped to shreds by a Hork-Bajir and an Andalite at the same time," I muttered quietly. "So describe it to them, please?"  
  
Yes. Uh, well. It hurts horribly. Like...like being burnt alive. Yes. With...with all of your finger and toe nails being pulled back slowly, Ax said, obviously uncomfortable.  
  
"Hey, who said that?"  
  
"He did," I said, pointing at Ax.  
  
"But I heard it in my head!"  
  
"That's how he talks. He doesn't have a mouth, obviously, so how else is he supposed to get his point across?" I asked.  
  
"Wow! Anyway, is that what it really feels like to be ripped to shreds by demons?"  
  
"Ax, just nod and say 'Yes', okay?" I told him.  
  
He nodded and said Yes.   
  
"Now, shoo!" I exclaimed.  
  
"C'mon, guys," I muttered when they all left.  
  
What was that all about? Jake asked.  
  
"Kender. The most annoying race on Krynn," I told him.  
  
Sounds like Marco, Rachel said with a laugh.  
  
I grinned. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Here's a good enough spot to start. Perfect size for Rachel's bulk."  
  
Hey! Rachel exclaimed.  
  
I laid the little fur-covered bowl at the foot of a very, very old tree stump. I climbed up the stump and started my little speech.  
  
"Come, boys and girls, men and women! See the horrible monsters! See the animals, beautiful and terrible alike!" I exclaimed.  
  
It didn't seem to work. Only a few people came to look at the 'monsters' and give a few coppers. Then I had an idea.  
  
"Hew, Tobias, Ax. Get in a fight. You know, a mock battle. But make it look like your really trying to hurt each other. That's sure to get a few stares, and some money."  
  
You know, we're running out of time, Cassie said.  
  
"Good. I can have the first-ever perfectly tame werewolf," I said.  
  
You have werewolves here? Tobias asked.  
  
"Yeah, but they're rare. I think. They may not be, but you can't really tell..." I mused.  
  
What don't you guys have here? Rachel asked.  
  
"Most working technology," I said. "By the way, how much time do you have?" I asked Ax.  
  
About ten of your minutes, Ax said.  
  
"All right, demorph," I said.  
  
Demorph? In front of all these people? Are you sure? Jake asked.  
  
"Yep, I'm positive. They won't care, really. They'll just think it's magic or something," I assured him.  
  
Okay... he said cautiously. But if we get arrested or thrown in a zoo or something, your getting us out.   
  
"Yes, sir!" I said, saluting.  
  
Jake sighed in my head and started demorphing. The others followed suit.  
  
"Come and see these misshapen monster. Children of all ages, men and women alike! We have here, the first, ever, completely tame werewolf! And here, we have the only living broken one in captivity! Here we have one of the elusive and terrible dopplegangers. She's trying to frighten everyone by being a dragon, as you can see. But I have her under control. And here, oh here is out most tragic one. A deformed aarakocra, cursed by a mad wizard to be a lycanthrope as well. Sad, isn't it, audience?" I asked, for we had gotten one whale of an audience.  
  
"And this, my friend and partner, Aximili," I said, coming over and laying an arm around Ax's shoulders. He looked a bit uncomfortable about me touching him, so I muttered, "Stay still! I'm getting us some money.  
  
"I know he looks odd, but he was created by an odd man. A cruel man, as well. He changed this poor, poor aarakocra into a lycanthrope, too. Aximili ran from his creator when he was much younger, and I took him under my care. And now we have become very good friends," I said this loudly to the audience. I heard steel coins clinking into the bowl.  
  
"Hey, that's just a hawk!" I heard one man yell from the audience.  
  
"Uh...well, yes. He is a hawk, now. The wizard put a curse on him so that he can never, uh, take his true form ever again, so he took the next best thing. You see, the mad, cruel wizard forgot to specify the lycanthropy spell so now this poor creature can take any form but his own," I replied.  
  
"Hey, Ax? Keep at least one eye on our bowl. I see a few more kender roaming around here," I murmured under my breath. He swiveled one eye stalk to point towards the money-bowl.  
  
"Then why are they all human now?" a woman cried from the crowd.  
  
"Why, because this same evil, mad, cruel mage made them all into were- animals!" I replied.  
  
I gulped and hoped no one would ask any more questions, but give a lot more money.  
  
Thankfully, the crowd dispersed, but not until after they'd left a few more coins, steel coins at that.  
  
"Ha! What I'd tell you? Wow! Look at all this money. Hell, we don't have to worry about much of anything concerning money, unless the current value of steel coins has gone down. Lets just hope it hasn't," I said.  
  
Rachel looked over my shoulder into the little bowl. "Looks like about five dollars worth of quarters to me," she commented.  
  
I grinned. "That's what it's worth at your home, though you'll get arrested for using counterfeit money. But here, it's worth...oh, I don't know. This right here might be about fifty dollars, and that's also making the things we get with it constantly half-price."  
  
Cassie gave a low whistle as Jake said, "That's a lot of money for just a half-hour worth of work."  
  
I chuckled. "That wasn't work! That was fun! There's a big difference. I had those people eating out of my hands, mostly thanks to my stretch concerning the truth of the matter."  
  
Why would anyone want anyone else eating out of their hands? Ax asked.  
  
"You lied?!" Jake exclaimed.  
  
"I didn't lie! Not exactly, anyway...Well, maybe a little....Okay, yes, I lied," I said with a sigh. "But it worked!" I told them brightly. Then I slapped myself. "Ugh, I sound like a kender," I muttered.  
  
"What do you have against those little guys? They seem nice enough," Cassie asked me.  
  
"Oh, they try to be nice. But while they're being nice, their robbing you blind and asking you questions you mostly can't possibly answer," I told her. "Plus they're annoying as a swarm of misquitos."  
  
"Oh." 


	4. The Mage's Rage

As we walked on to the Tower of Palanthas, we got a few stares for my companions clothing. We even once got accosted by a kender, who asked, shrilly and loudly, why on Krynn were they wearing such awful clothes.  
  
"Pay them no mind; You'll be home soon enough that you'll just become a silly little story that they'll tell their children."  
  
"Who's this wizard your taking us to?" Jake asked.  
  
"The great and powerful....George," I replied lamely.  
  
"George?! What kind of name is that for the most powerful magic- person here?" Rachel asked incredulously.  
  
"It's a fine name. 'What's it a name?' Shakespeare said in 'Romeo and Juliet'. Just be careful about what you say to him. Make sure you don't say anything about dwarves, hammers, or red dragons, got it? Don't even mention the color red to him," I warned them.  
  
Why? Tobias asked from his perch on Rachel's shoulder.  
  
"Because, once, when he was younger, he went on an adventure with a few warrior friends of his. They met up with a red dragon. His friends killed the beast. It rolled over on top of him. He was stuck with his arms and hands pinned to his sides for three days. He survived only by chewing on the dragonflesh and drinking the blood that dribbled on his face. His friends came back soon enough, though, with a whole army of dwarves. They hacked through the dragon's body and finally came upon George, lying there with his red robes much redder. One dwarf had accidentally bashed him on the head with a war hammer, so they had to dragger him through the hole they had made. Which was in the dragon's anal cavity. He smelled like dragon crap for weeks. That's why he's a bit....odd."  
  
They all made a face, except Tobias and Ax, who couldn't, really.  
  
Marco gave a low whistle and Cassie said, "Poor guy. That must have been an awful experience for him."  
  
"Yeah, so don't mention dragons or dwarves, got it?" I asked. They all nodded.  
  
We came upon the Shoikan Grove. It was silent in this part of the city. The leaves in the giant oak trees hung limply. No breeze had ever blown through this wood. A chill fog radiated from it. I suddenly didn't want to go in there. I really didn't want to go in there.  
  
"Uh...Y-you guys go ahead in....I'll just...uh...stay out here," I stuttered to the Animorphs.  
  
They looked at me curiously, like I'd suddenly gone insane. Again.  
  
"And how are we supposed to tell them what we need?" Jake asked. A little frantically, I noticed.  
  
"I-I don't know. Talk to them in Solamnic, or Dwarven, or Elven, or whatever language you know! Just don't make me go in there," I pleaded.  
  
"Oh, God! You big baby!" Rachel cried in exasperation. "If you're too scared to lead on, then I'll do it! Come on!"  
  
She started walking then stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
"Uh, maybe Jake should lead on," she said. "He is our fearless leader, right?"  
  
"Y-Yeah, Jake should go in first," I stated as firmly as I could through chattering teeth and slightly quivering lips.  
  
"What is wrong with you two?" Jake and Marco's looks said. Jake shrugged then started walking towards the trail that had opened up in the center of the Grove. He also stopped dead in his tracks but he looked frantically behind him, too.  
  
"If you're too cowardly to enter the grove, I suggest you state you business with us mages and leave," a voice said suddenly from the darkness created by the sinister trees.  
  
The Animorphs looked at each other curiously, then at me for an explanation.  
  
"Whoever it is wants to know why we've come," I told them.  
  
"We've come to speak with the great George!" I called to the unseen speaker.  
  
"Well you can't very well do that from out there, now can you?" the voice asked in laughing mockery.  
  
"Uh, yes. That's what we're standing here debating. We're trying to see who's to go in first," I said with a smile.  
  
"Ah, yes, yes. I know what that feels like. I felt the same way the first time I came to this Tower, for my Test," the speaker said, coming from the shadows at last. He was a pudgy little man, dressed in white robes, with brown hair and deep blue eyes.  
  
He looked a little startled to see that it was a half-elven warrior seeking the powerful George, in the company of a handful of humans in Spandex and a blue centaur-looking demon. But he soon recovered from his surprise and said, "And what business would a group such as yourselves have with the great George?"  
  
"I am Lady Ariel Half-Elven," I told him. (Yes, I am a lady on my world, and, yes, I can use Half-Elven as a last name if I want to, though I prefer to use my father's name.) "And these are the Animorphs."  
  
"Animorphs, eh? Odd name for a group of adventurers. Sounds like polymorph." he commented under his breath. "And a lady? Hmm....who's your husband?" he inquired rudely.  
  
"I haven't a husband," I said to him. "At least, not on this world," I muttered in English under my breath.  
  
"Huh. Anyway, I'll only say this once more, what's your business with the mighty George?"  
  
"My friends need his help," I told him coolly. "Urgently."  
  
"Urgent? Well, then. Come with me. Mustn't leave a lady waiting!" he said, slightly mocking.  
  
"What'd you tell him?" Jake asked as we nervously followed the pudgy White Robe through the Grove.  
  
"That I'm a lady, and that you're in need of urgent help," I told him. "I didn't lie!" I added when I saw that dangerous look in his eyes.  
  
"Your a lady?" Marco asked.  
  
"Well, I am a Knight, thank you."  
  
"So that makes you a lady?" Rachel asked. I nodded.  
  
Does that mean we have to call you Lady Ariel, or something? Tobias asked.  
  
I grinned and shook my head. "I've always preferred just Ariel. I hate all that 'Sir' or 'Lady' or 'Lord' crap being a Knight from either Order does to your name. A person doesn't need a title to be someone magnificent."  
  
Jake nodded and looked pointedly at Ax. "I agree completely," he said. "But what do you mean, from either Order?"  
  
I grinned. "I'm a Knight of a New Age, but these mages don't need to know that. The other order is the Knights of Solomnia. Both are basically the same, except that New Age Knights aren't as strict and we're neutral, not good. We both distrust magic, but Solomnic Knights hate it. But there were rumors when I...was forced to leave this world, that their was a new order of Knights arising, Knights dedicated towards evil. They embrace magic, the idiots."  
  
By then we'd finished our terrifying journey through the Shoikan Grove. The wizard had watched curiously as we carried out our conversation in English. I was sure he wouldn't be able to understand.  
  
When I looked at him curiously and asked "What?" he just shook his head, spoke a word of magic, and POOF! We were in an audience chamber in what I hoped to be the Tower in Palanthas.  
  
I looked around nervously, as did my companions. Voices murmured out of air everywhere in the huge room. Mists flowed freely from door to door. (There were many.) We once saw a disembodied hand reach out and pat the little White Robe on the shoulder. Ax's eyes widen at this.  
  
The pudgy man led us through the vast chamber to a narrow corridor. Here he stopped, chanted a bit in a whisper, then seemed to start a one- sided conversation with the air in front of his face.  
  
"Yes, yes. I know, Master. But they do seem to be rather important people..." The pudgy wizard said. He paused for a moment, seeming to listen to someone. Then, "Yes, but one is a lady, Master, in company of a demon, and what seems to be a group of scantily dressed gypsies. Please, they say that they need you. Urgently."  
  
He waited another moments, then smiled. "Yes, Master. I'll tell them." He spoke a quick, magical command, then turned to us.  
  
"He said that you had better not have any purple custard," the wizard said. At my confused expression, he chuckled a little.  
  
"Don't worry," he assured me. "You don't have any. All right, come on." He started leading us down the corridor.  
  
"What was that all about?" Marco asked.  
  
I shrugged. "I don't know. Something involving magic," I said, making a face. "And purple custard."  
  
Marco looked like he was going to ask another question, but he just shook his head and sighed. I grinned. I love having that effect on people.  
  
At the fifth door on the right we stopped. I'd kept track just in case we had to make a quick get away.  
  
The fat little mage knocked on the door, nervously saying, "Master? They're here."  
  
A squeaky, slightly annoying voice replied cheerfully, "Let them in! Let them in!"  
  
The White Robe smiled in relief, then opened the door and ushered us in. Once he'd made sure that we were all in there, including Ax, he closed the door and left.  
  
I saw the tall, thin man sitting in a large, plush chair by a well- carved wooded desk covered in runes. He was dressed in blood-red robes, and had a pair of spectacles on that made him look like his eyes were as large as shields.  
  
He looked up from a few sheaves of parchment, blinked, then stood up and bowed to me.  
  
He either didn't see, or chose to ignore, my startled expression. "You must be that lady poor Unthgar spoke of. He's a little senile, you see. All the mages here are, except for me. What is your name and the names of you companions?" he asked, looking at Ax like a warrior looks at a rack of swords. To say the least, Ax looked extremely uncomfortable under the wizard's scrutinizing gaze.  
  
I cleared my throat. "Yes, I am Lady Ariel Half-Elven. This is Jake Giantslayer, his cousin, Rachel Bloodbath. Here is Marco Swordbender," the wizard look skeptical at this alias (Marco was still as short as the first day I'd met him). "Cassie Beastfriend. Tobais, and Ax."  
  
The wizard ignored my friends, and looked at me. "You sound as if you've earned that title you use" he remarked.  
  
"I did," I stated proudly. "I am a Knight of a New Age, of the Order-- " I got cut off by his expression of pure rage.  
  
"You said it!!" he shrieked. "You said it!!" He started chanting strange, spidery words that I still cannot remember. His face was contorted in a mask of pure and total hatred. His eyes were suddenly blood shot, his pupils dilated. He looked very much like a caged beast of prey that had gone mad. Then I felt a dizzying sensation and I saw only darkness for a moment.  
  
When the darkness cleared, I saw that we were somewhere filthy, with small bundles of clothing shifting around all the time.  
  
"Was it something I said?" I grunted.  
  
Jake was shaking his head like he was trying to clear it. "What was that all about?" he asked.  
  
I could only shrug. Then I looked more closely at the bundles that crawled around. They had all scattered, screaming, when we appeared, but they were coming back.  
  
Then the stench hit me and I knew exactly what they were.  
  
"Ugh! What are those things?" Rachel asked in disgust.  
  
I grinned. "They're gully dwarves!" I told them.  
  
"Whats?" Marco asked.  
  
"Gully dwarves. The stupidest, ugliest, filthiest race on Krynn. Also the typically sweetest," I said.  
  
You mean, the ones you ate rats with? Tobias asked.  
  
I nodded. "They make pretty good stews."  
  
I looked around for a minute, then I spotted one of the filthy little creatures that was taller than most of the others. I think it was a male, but I couldn't tell very well. They all had whiskers, and they all dressed in rags.  
  
I kneeled down by the gully dwarf, who shrank away only a little. Very brave, for one of his race.  
  
"Hello," I said as gently as I ever talk "Who are you?"  
  
The little fellow pointed at himself and glance around like maybe I was talking to someone behind him.  
  
"Yes, you," I told him.  
  
He sighed greatly for one his size. "Me thought you talking to ghost behind me. My name Gar. What yours?" he asked.  
  
"I'm Ariel. Tell me, Gar, where are we?" I asked him.  
  
He looked at me like I was an idiot. "Why, you in This Place," he said.  
  
I thought that reply over a little. Then I said, "Are there any mountains near This Place? Or lots of trees?"  
  
He nodded so vigorously that I thought his head might pop off. "Yep. There mou...mount...There big hills, that way," He said, pointing to the west. "And lots and lots of trees that way," he said, pointing north.  
  
"Thank you, Gar. Oh, is there a way out of This Place?" I asked.  
  
He nodded again and said "That way," he pointed over to a wall to my left.  
  
"Thank you again, Gar."  
  
I reached into my pocket and drew forth a copper coin, handing it to him. He grabbed it eagerly and ran off.  
  
I walked back to the Animorphs. "Come on. Follow me. I think we can find our way to some kind of town or city if we go north," I told them.  
  
I walked over to the wall the gully dwarf had pointed out, and immediately spotted the door. We stepped through the ruined doorway, and looked around.  
  
"There," I said, pointing. There was a hole in a crumbling wall just big enough for a gully dwarf to squeeze through.  
  
And how are we supposed to get through that? Tobias asked.  
  
I smiled. "Well, you can all morph into something small, mice, rats and the such. And I've been known in many a city for my ability to squeeze through almost any hole." I winked. "Made me quite popular among the various thieves' guilds."  
  
Cassie looked at me sharply and I laughed. "Hey, I was down in the dumps at the time, and I needed to make a living somehow."  
  
"Is there anything you haven't done?" Marco asked wearily.  
  
I glanced at him sharply, narrowed my eyes and fingered the hilt of my sword before I gained control of my temper. Luckily, no one noticed. At least, no one said anything.  
  
"Of course," I said, shrugging. "I've never, ever prostituted. I would never sell myself so," I shuddered. "I've never assassinated anyone, unless they truly deserved it. I've never killed an innocent, I've never fought dragonback, and I haven't done so many other things."  
  
They all just shrugged at my reply, then started morphing various rodent morphs. Tobias morphed a rabbit, Ax and Marco morphed little white mice, Cassie and Rachel morphed large rats, and Jake morphed a mole.  
  
"All right, you guys go first. If I get stuck, I don't want to slow you guys down," I said.  
  
But how are we supposed to get to the hole? I'm nearly blind! Jake exclaimed.  
  
"Here, let me help," I said, grinning.  
  
I picked him up, and he squirmed a little.  
  
"Hold still!" I said sternly.  
  
Sorry. Mole instincts, he told me.  
  
I grinned again and placed him gently in the little escape-hole. I went back over, and grabbed Marco and Ax. They didn't just squirm a little. They squirmed a lot! And Marco, I think it was Marco, bit me.  
  
"Ow! Hey!" I exclaimed.  
  
Sorry, Marco said sheepishly.  
  
"Bite me again, and I'll bite back," I told them angrily.  
  
I stuck the little mice in with Jake, and they all crawled out as I went back for Cassie and Rachel.  
  
Just then, a gully dwarf came in with a rather big stick.  
  
"Rats!" he exclaimed, looking at my friends eagerly. "Dinner!"  
  
He started after them, probably looking to bash them over the head with his stick. Thank the gods I'm just slightly fleeter of foot than a gully dwarf.  
  
I ran in front of the rats, both of whom looked extremely terrified.  
  
"Hey, stop that!" I yelled.  
  
"Eek!" was all the gully dwarf said in reply. He pivoted around and ran right in the opposite direction. I cringed a little when I saw him run into the wall beside the ruined doorway with a thunk! He fell over, stunned.  
  
I shook my head and looked for my two little rat-friends. They'd fled when I had stepped in front of the gully dwarf.  
  
"Rachel? Cassie?" I called.  
  
What? was their thought-spoken reply.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
All ready up and out of that hole, Cassie replied.  
  
I sighed, then went over to the hole and examined it, making sure that I could wiggle through it. It was just wide enough.  
  
"Good," I said to myself. Looking up out of the hole, I saw my friends looking at me from the top, probably wondering if I could really squirm through this little hole.  
  
I grinned and started sliding up the hole. My arms were up front, searching for hand-holds that I could pull myself up with. My shoulders were squeezed up close to my chest and I let all the air out of my lungs to make myself smaller. I wiggled my spine and legs back and forth like an eel.  
  
I slivered so quickly out of that hole that my friends didn't have enough time to out of the way.  
  
Ow! Hey, get off me! Marco exclaimed from under me. I grinned and rolled over.  
  
I got up and shook of like a dog. Dirt flew everywhere. I was filthy.  
  
The others demorphed. As they were doing this, I looked around curiously, then sighed.  
  
"Gar doesn't know his directions," I muttered. The forest was to the south of us, the mountains to the east.  
  
"You know what? I haven't felt this good in years. And I'm saying this dirt-encrusted, with few friends left on this world, and no idea where I am," I told them, grinning.  
  
They looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. Then I realized I had been, so I repeated what I'd said in English. They all just shrugged, so I led them on through the forest, looking for any kind of civilization. 


	5. The Bunny Incident

We strolled quite uncaringly for a while. The Animorphs' feet were raw and bloodied. Then I smacked myself on the forehead.  
  
"Ow!" I exclaimed, not realizing how hard I hit. "Anyway, I have an idea, and I think I'm a total idiot not to have realized it before."  
  
"And what is that idea?" Jake asked.  
  
"Tobias, you can go up and scout around to see if there are any towns or villages nearby," I said.  
  
"That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Jake asked. I shrugged and Tobias took off.  
  
"You guys can go ahead and take a nap if you want to. I know it's been a while since you slept. I'll keep watch, though I don't think it's necessary. This woods seems quiet enough," I said.  
  
The others looked a little uneasy at the thought of lowering their guard in such an unknown place, especially Rachel and Ax.  
  
"Hey, don't worry! With me on the alert, your as safe as if you were in your own room." Rachel sighed and shook her head, and Ax rolled his main eyes, an expression he'd obviously picked up from humans over his nine or ten years on earth. But they relaxed noticeably. (A/N: Okay, about that nine or ten years bit: The Andalites came, but with little defense. They were pulverized by the Yeerks, but not before they got an emergency distress call out....in radio waves. That's why it's taking so long. Don't worry, there will be a story about that... At the end...I think)  
  
I crawled up a tree and sat on a sturdy branch about ten feet above their heads so that I could see farther and still reach the ground quickly.  
  
One by one they settled down and dropped off into sleep. Ax was the last to sleep.  
  
He looked up at me with his main eyes while searching endlessly with his stalk eyes for danger.  
  
"What?" I asked when I realized that he wasn't just glancing at me.  
  
He sighed in my head and said, We have a saying on my homeworld--A warrior should never be too confident in his abilities. There are always those stronger than he.   
  
I laughed and shook my head. "Aximili, trust me. I know both my strengths and weaknesses. I have only survived my one hundred and twenty- odd years by knowing them. I know I could not fight off an army of blood- lusting ogres single-handily. But I do know that I can fight off a raiding party of goblins by my self. And I know that I can stand watch without help, seeing as the only thing I will be doing is waking you all up if there is trouble. You do not need to worry, friend. If you are a light sleeper, you will be in no trouble at all."  
  
He smiled then, just with his eyes. I smiled back, then laughed.  
  
"Get some rest," I told him. He nodded, and fell asleep standing up like a horse. But he left his two stalk eyes open and moving.  
  
I smiled and shook my head. I guess he still didn't believe I was good enough to stand watch. A long time ago, that would have offended my honor. Now I didn't care.  
  
That seemed strange to me. Just twenty-five years ago, I would have challenged Ax, a person I considered a good friend, to a duel to the death for not trusting me. Now I only smiled and shook my head.  
  
Must have been your world. A world where only a few people even consider honor a part of their lives.  
  
I sighed at that thought and leaned against the trunk of the tree.  
  
Nothing happened as the others slept, except Tobias came back.  
  
When he landed on the branch beside me I was about to leap down and wake the others. But then I figured, they were sleeping like contented babies, why wake them?  
  
"So, you find anything?" I whispered.  
  
Yeah, he told me. A little town a few miles from here.   
  
"Did you find a signpost or anything? And is there an inn?" I asked.  
  
No signpost, but there was a building near the middle of the place that was bigger than the others. Could be an inn, I guess, he said.  
  
"Or the mayor's house," I muttered.  
  
No, I don't think so. I heard a lot of laughter and conversation inside. I landed on the roof and I heard the clinking of glass. I'm pretty sure it's an inn, he stated.  
  
"The mayor could be having a party," I said.  
  
Why are you always on the down side? he asked me in slight frustration.  
  
I grinned. "You gotta see all points of everything on this world," I told him.  
  
After that he flew off, saying he was going to look for some dinner. It was getting rather late, I noticed.  
  
I sighed and for the next couple of hours I tried not to nod off. It had been twenty-some years since I had to stay watch by myself, but that doesn't wash away almost a hundred years of doing it nearly every night. Still, I had trouble keeping awake and alert.  
  
Around nightfall Jake and Rachel started stirring. Ax was already awake.  
  
When Jake sat up and blinked in confusion I guessed he thought he was at his home waking up in his room. I could sympathize. I'd felt the same way for the first year or so I was stranded on his world.  
  
"Where--" Jake started to ask then stopped and sighed. "Oh."  
  
Rachel mumbled something in her half-consciousness. I smiled when I realized it was an old elven saying I'd taught her once.  
  
When she sat up she stated it again, looking up at me in the tree.  
  
"You taught me that," she said.  
  
I chuckled. "Yeah, about seven years ago." Then I yawned and asked, "Hey, could one of you take the next watch? I'm beat."  
  
Jake smiled and said, "Sure, I will."  
  
"Thanks." I leapt down from my tree limb. They looked at me in amazement and I realized jumping from a tree limb that's ten feet in the air is something amazing to them, even after knowing me for years.  
  
I sighed, shook my head, sat down, and propped myself up against the trunk of the tree, letting my chin dip down to my chest as I went to sleep.  
  
I slept for about an hour or so before I felt a touch on my shoulder. I was up in an instant with my sword halfway drawn before I even looked up at Jake questioningly. (He'd grown quite a bit. I was only five and a half feet tall, and he was nearly six and a half)  
  
"I heard a noise over there in the bushes," he told me without voice.  
  
I nodded while my mind raced over the possibilities. Since I didn't know where exactly I was I didn't know what could be hiding around here. Could be goblins, ogres, orcs, trolls, anything.  
  
Then I heard it, too. A loud rustling right across from me in the center of a natural ring of flowering bushes. I stepped silently over to them and rustled around with my sword.  
  
I nearly leaped out of my skin when a furred animal jumped out and hopped around in confusion.  
  
Then I started laughing at my own jittery-ness. The others joined me a few moments later.  
  
It was a rabbit.  
  
"All right," I gasped after a minute of laughing my head off. "Don't take this as a sign to be less alert, got it? You never know what'll come up on this world. We've got everything here from dragons to dwarves. Almost everything's a surprise."  
  
They all nodded seriously, but burst out giggling every once and a while. I sighed, shook my head, then snorted in suppressed laughter.  
  
Chapter five, The Um...Whatever  
  
The others went back to sleep a few minutes after what we'd dubbed the "Bunny Incident." Except for me and Ax. Ax was standing watch, and I couldn't sleep. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins from the surprise of being attacked by and killing a rabbit. (A good dinner in a few hours.)  
  
I looked up at the moons and stars.  
  
"Hey, Ax?" I whispered.  
  
Yes, Ariel? he replied.  
  
"Where's your home star?" I asked curiously.  
  
I am not sure. The arrangement of stars here is very odd. I am not even really sure there is an Andalite Homeworld in this dimension, he answered.  
  
"That must be pretty depresing, not knowing that your family exists in this universe," I commented.  
  
Yes, was all he said.  
  
"Ax? What do you think happened to send us here?" I asked.  
  
I'm not sure. It could be Sario Rip. Or, considering that you have magic in this universe, someone could have drawn us from our universe to this one. Or, according to your observations on the history of our universe, we could have gone back in time. Very far back. It could several other possibilities as well, he said.  
  
"Why this universe if it's a Sario Rip?" Ax had explained that phenomena to me once. I was fascinated by scientific explanations of nature, and caught on to it quickly.  
  
That could be your doing, Ax told me.  
  
"My doing? Why?" I asked. What were you thinking of as you attacked the new Yeerk Pool? Ax answered my question with a question.  
  
"Um...I'm don't really remember..." I started to say. Then, "Oh. I was thinking about how fun it had been to hack down ogres here."  
  
Ax gave me a curious look at my reply, but didn't say anything else.  
  
I sighed and looked up at the moons, trying to remember everything that had kept me alive here that I hadn't needed on Earth.  
  
I laid down and tried going back to sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
In the morning we woke up and started off towards the town Tobias had spotted. It didn't take us long, but my friends were exhausted by then anyway.  
  
"Dude, you guys gotta get into better shape," I teased, having not even started breathing hard.  
  
"You try walking in a forest like this barefoot for, like, four hours," Rachel retorted.  
  
I laughed. "Okay," I stated. "`Ere, who wants my boots? How about my socks?"  
  
"I got first dibs on the boots," Marco said.  
  
"I'll take your socks!" Rachel exclaimed.  
  
I laughed even harder at their whimpy-ness. I sat down to pull off my footwear.  
  
It just so happens that the town Tobias had spotted was farther away than expected. Figures. 


End file.
